For the last couple of months every time I started my computer Skype would yell at me to update to the newest version. I would have been happy to oblige but my computer cannot run the newest version of Skype. Today I find that Microsoft, in all its money grubbing tyrant wisdom, has decided that unless I update they won't allow me to sign in. THEY WON"T ALLOW ME?! So now I cannot access Skype on my PC, ever again. All because Microsoft is evil.
So... I watched the riveting made for TV film Sharknado yesterday. If you have not seen it you cannot possibly understand how awesomely bad this movies is. Words simply cannot convey the absurd hilarity of a shark flying through the air and a man cutting it in half with a chainsaw before it hits the ground, or a guy and girl flying a tiny helicopter into a shark infested tornado in an attempt to disperse it using a bomb small enough to hold in your hand. Not to mention the utter insanity of the girl falling out of the helicopter and into the mouth of a flying shark, only to be 'rescued' when that same shark later attacks the main character and he cuts it up with a chainsaw and finds the girl inside unharmed. I cannot remember the last film I watched where I laughed till I got dizzy, let alone the last 'horror' film to induce such a reaction. If you have not seen Sharknado you are missing out.
For over a year now I have been interested in possibly acquiring a small tablet computer. I investigated the Google Nexus 7 and the iPad mini, but neither seemed ideal, for different reasons. The Nexus 7 had wide spread hardware issues and software inadequacies, some of which were never fully addressed. And the iPad mini has sub par tech specs and costs WAY more than it is worth. A few months ago rumors started circulating about an update for the Nexus 7, one which would possibly fix certain issues and improve and expand its capabilities. This update was SUPPOSED to be announced at the Google IO conference in May, but there was no mention of it. Now it looks like the 'Nexus 2 7 inch' will be released at the end of the month, with several nice upgrades over the original. I am still considering The Nexus 7 but now Asus, who manufactures the Nexus 7, has announced the Memo Pad HD 7. This appears to be the same design and specs as the first gen Nexus 7 but with several nice additions, and a significantly lower price. I will be watching closely for articles and reviews as both tablets are released. It has been a busy few weeks: Buy new TV, buy new computer to connect to new TV, new computer does not work with new TV, new TV breaks, get multiple spider bytes and have two weeks of low grade fever, have obscure medical tests come back clean, start antibiotic, discover allergy to antibiotic, start new antibiotic, father has sudden illness involving lots of blood, father will be OK, other family members move out now I am living alone for the first time, been busier alone than ever was with others around, started talking to myself A LOT, and now I am going to rest in the air conditioning with a cool beverage... (Gasps for breath!)
And incidentally, Closeout has so far been one of my most successful programs. It has been downloaded over 350 times in 7 days. It may not sound like much, but compare that to iSpace only being downloaded 130 times in a month. I learned two things today. The first is alarming, the second merely disheartening.
1. Our house has Brown Recluse spiders! My sister discovered a LARGE Brown Recluse in our bathtub this morning. He was about the size of a silver dollar. While we knew that our house had its share of arachnid inhabitants this is the first confirmed member of this particularly unwanted species. Over the next few days we will be spraying insecticide in strategic location throughout the property. 2. The world at large stinks! Over the last few days there have been several articles on Yahoo editorializing a certain situation involving a private school, an anti evolution curriculum and state funds. As with most Yahoo articles it is the comments which provide the majority of the entertainment value. As I read through these comments I was annoyed at the shear liberal idiocy and outright hatred I saw. The comments ranged from light joking about the “ignorant religious rednecks” through complaints that the funding issue violated “separation of church and state”, all the way to actual death threats aimed at the school and by extension Christians in general. The VERY few comments made on behalf of religious beliefs were almost universally derided scoffed at and harassed. Many of the posts contain false statements and illogical arguments, and I made the mistake of posting responses to some of them. I politely pointed out that evolution is a theory and not a fact, that natural selection and evolution are not the same thing, and that Christians are not conspiring to turn the country into a theocracy where science in all forms is forbidden and all textbooks would be burned in giant bonfires. I REALLY wish I was kidding about that last one. And for my trouble in pointing out the factual errors and obvious inanities of some of the posts, I was repeatedly insulted and called names. Ignorant and naive were the favorites. It frightens me that a publicly expressed opinion would be attacked on such a large scale. That that many people are so anti Christian and would LOUDLY proclaim it in a public forum Is frightening. I despair at the state of our civilization. I find myself contemplating the simple, yet paradoxical statement "I do not exist". It really is quite interesting when you consider the implications.
_Happy thanksgiving!
Thankfulness, as a general sentiment, seems to be less and less common these days. As a society we grumble about the unpleasant moments of our lives. We lament the things we don't have, the circumstances we wish were ours. Is short, we seem to think we are somehow owed more. Today of all days we should strive to see our blessings. Even the lowest among us can generally say “I am still here! I am alive, and as long as that is true there is hope.” Today if nothing else recognize that you are still alive and remember the ones who died, and are dying, to make it possible. “A massive two-building fire on the Pinckneyville town square Friday afternoon claimed the life of a Du Quoin firefighter, the fire chief's son.
Corey Shaw, 22, son of Du Quoin Fire Chief Bob Shaw, died from injuries sustained while combating the fire that engulfed the Pinckneyville Antique Mall and the Kunz Opera House...” He was my next door neighbor. He had a wife and a 2 year old daughter. I had only spoken to him a few times since they moved in last year, but from what I saw he may have been the rarest of things in this world, a good man. He will be missed a great deal by a great many. May God bless and keep his family in the days to come. Well it has been an interesting year so far. My computer was down for three months (not all at once), my sister had to be tested for meningitis, my brother was evicted and has moved to Florida, my father filed for bankruptcy and my grandmother found out she has not one but two types of none life threatening leukemia (her doctor didn't even know that was possible). Can't wait to see what June through December will bring. On a lighter note: some guy with a Bible and a calculator has predicted tomorrow as the end of the world. Yippee!
This past Tuesday was marked by over thirty tornadoes confirmed on the ground in our area. While there was a remarkable lack of direct damage from these storms they did result in a complete power outage for the surrounding cities lasting, for us at least, until earlier this afternoon. These events have forced me into a reluctant conclusion: I am addicted to technology. These last two days without electricity have been miserable, and I have no wish to repeat them. Unfortunately I may have no choice as the weather forecast shows many more such storm heading our way over the next few days. We can send men to the moon but it seems burying our power lines underground is beyond us.
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